We saw the HexaYurt last year at the Green Man Center Camp displays and decided to build one this year. Let me just say that it was GREAT!!!

Totally dust free--in fact we slept right through the storm the night of the Temple Burn and didn't even know there was one until our camp mates told us about it that morning.

We'll definately be building it again next year, with several additions and modifications from things we learned with our first experience. I think next year we will be building at least two structures and attaching them. Oh, did I mention we also air conditioned the Yurt. Next year we will be trying to engineer a way to do this with some alternative to the generator.

Anyway, I'd like to hear anyone else's experience with the HexaYurt on the Playa. I also understand that there was a HexaYurt camp, but we were not able to find it. Please post your comments and experiences if you used a HexaYurt on the Playa this year or in years past.

Whats this mean? Are you trying to imply that folks don't bring air/swamp coolers out to BM?

Anywayz.. Yurts are cool.. so are domes.. swamp coolers are better on the playa. Using misters with cold water is nice and can be done fairly cheap at homedespot. Look in the gardening irrigation area.. they make some dandy lil guys that snap right onto the flexi hose and you could hunt down a small 12V pump for your deep cycle battery.

there was a company here, northern CA, that made folding yurts on a trailer.
they were really neat, well insulated, etc, and, all folded down flat for moving and went right up..........
that'd be a neat way to go.......

Every wall had either a plastic window or an air filter made with furnace filters. The cut-outs were hinged on the inside to act like shutters that could be opened or closed.

We took the yurt to the park to practice assembly. First run-through took an hour. Took about the same time on the playa. Fortunately we got there early and there wasn't much of a breeze. Another guy in our camp came in on Wednesday and it was a bit more windy. We put his up in about the same amount of time, just needed a few more people to hold the panels in place.

There were three things we found that really helped with the installation:

1. We pre-taped the wall sections together so we had 3 hinged sections instead of 6 individual pieces. We also taped the roof triangles together so that we had 6 hinged sections instead of 12 individual pieces.

2. When assembling the pieces we used small pieces of tape to temporarily secure the structure together and then ran the larger pieces of tape per the video instructions.

3. When assembling the roof, rather than worry about the "gap" at the peak, which was really emphasized in the movies, we focused on aligning the bottom edges of the triangle, then the top alignment just took care of itself.

When dissembling the yurt, we just cut along the seams and refolded it and wrapped it in the tarp we used for the floor. It's ready for re-assembly next year. We're thinking of adding another 'wing' to the yurt next year.

We were with Uncharted Territories in Avalon Village at 8:30 between D & F.

ygmir wrote:there was a company here, northern CA, that made folding yurts on a trailer.they were really neat, well insulated, etc, and, all folded down flat for moving and went right up..........that'd be a neat way to go.......

Fire_Moose wrote:I helped put one up in my camp. Must say it was pretty snazzy. Was a bit of a pain to get the final couple strips of tape on but my staff came in handy for that.

We found a solution for that--we got a squeegee and a 12 foot telescoping pole when we were at Home Depot buying the panels. It worked great at both controlling the tape in the breeze and also in smoothing the tape down for the last hard to reach seams.

emotion_sickness wrote:my group is planning on making at least one for next year...what sort of mods are you planning on making? how many people could one of those sleep comfortably?

Ours was the one made with 4' x 8' walls--which meant that it had a 16' diameter. It could easily sleep 6 or 8 if you're really good friends. We had two in ours, plus all our gear, a couch and a chair and a table and still didn't feel cramped in the least.

Even though the walls are only 4' high, once you get into the yurt, the ceiling is about 12' at the center, so there is plenty of head room. Though I think we might make the walls 6' next year so that I don't have to bend down to get into it.

rob1981sac wrote:just curious.. what kind of air conditioner did you use and generator, did it work keeping it cool in the heat of the day?

We got a cheap AC at Home Depot for about $100.00. It was good for cooling a 300 SQ Ft room, which was larger than our yurt; and being that the yurt was constructed with reflective insulation panels, it didn't have any problem cooling the space.

We used a small 1200 Watt generator, which we bought for BM two years ago for about $145.00; though we will be upgrading that next year. It had to work way harder than it should have to keep the AC working.

Hey JK (or anyone) - did you see any double-tall 8-foot hexayurts? Found the video of folks assembling one, wondered how strong they were and/or if they are reinforced somehow. We talked about using battens from e Hobie Cat sail to diagonally stiffen some panels - would that be needed you think?

Did you anchor the yurt at all? What about flooring?

And one big question - when I see the pics of shiny hexayurts I always wonder whether the reflections off them would blind your neighbors. Doesn't the shiny nature of the hexayurt doom all around you to blindless, and your tented neighbors to them being kinda extra-cooked by the reflected light?

I have been researching into building a hexayurt for 2009. I think it is a great option and, after 7 years on the playa in dust-caked camping structures, a dust free space sounds fantastic.

I have a two questions about hexayurts though....

1. The seem pretty simple to erect, but what about taking them down. How hard is it to cut the tape? What tools do you use... a razor blade, scissors...? And what special care, if any, is required to make sure it is clean and usable for the next year?

2. I hear that they are great at keeping the dust and heat out, but what about noise. I actually enjoy sleeping to the ambient techo and playa sounds. Will I lose this in a hexayurt?

Thanks in advance and I'll see you in a hexayurt next year!

â€œBe a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone elseâ€

sonic wrote:I have been researching into building a hexayurt for 2009. I think it is a great option and, after 7 years on the playa in dust-caked camping structures, a dust free space sounds fantastic.

I have a two questions about hexayurts though....

1. The seem pretty simple to erect, but what about taking them down. How hard is it to cut the tape? What tools do you use... a razor blade, scissors...? And what special care, if any, is required to make sure it is clean and usable for the next year?

2. I hear that they are great at keeping the dust and heat out, but what about noise. I actually enjoy sleeping to the ambient techo and playa sounds. Will I lose this in a hexayurt?

Thanks in advance and I'll see you in a hexayurt next year!

Preparation BEFORE you put it together is the most important thing. Tape ALL of the edges with the 6" tape if you can afford it. Then when you are ready to take it down, just cut the tape but DO NOT try to take it off the panels or you will pull off the reflective coating.

We used a good quality break off blade that we got at Home Depot for about $4 or $6 only later to find the exact same blade at the 99cent store for 99 cents! You can extend the blades as long as you need them. We also used this to cut the roof panels.

Additionally, we pre-taped the wall sections so that we had 3 two panel sections. We did the same with the roof panels. This really helped when assembling on the playa.

One trick we discovered that is not covered in any of the videos on-line is to not really worry about the 'gap' at the roof. Just make sure you allign the BOTTOM edges and work around the hexagon. Use some small pieces of tape at the top and bottom to hold the entire assembly together as you go. Then when you have it almost assembled, you can start with the large pieces of tape.

We used a squeege on a long pole to help control the tape and help seal it. This was another discovery that was never mentioned anywhere else, but was extremely helpful.

The only caviat is that the panels are light and large, so if it is too windy setup would be almost impossible. Early morning or just before sundown seem to be the calmest times.

We also took the structure out to a local park for a trial run-through on setup, which I would also recommend. It helps when you get on the playa and it is breezy.

They keep all the dust and water out and they stay cool till around 11 or noon. We air conditioned ours; but if you do not want to do that, do not put heavy carpet on the floor. After a day or so of the yurt shielding the floor from the sun, the coolness from the floor helps to keep the yurt cool. Misting is also a good option for when the yurt does start to heat up.

We used plastic windows and furnace filters for ventilation and light, and kept the cutouts to close the windows when we turned on the a/c.

You should go to Vinay Gupta's site and see the videos if you haven't already.

Grazelda wrote:Hey JK (or anyone) - did you see any double-tall 8-foot hexayurts? Found the video of folks assembling one, wondered how strong they were and/or if they are reinforced somehow. We talked about using battens from e Hobie Cat sail to diagonally stiffen some panels - would that be needed you think?

Did you anchor the yurt at all? What about flooring?

And one big question - when I see the pics of shiny hexayurts I always wonder whether the reflections off them would blind your neighbors. Doesn't the shiny nature of the hexayurt doom all around you to blindless, and your tented neighbors to them being kinda extra-cooked by the reflected light?

Thanks!

No, I didn't see any of the 8' ones. We were afraid that they would not be stable enough in a dust storm.

We are thinking about maybe doing a 6' tall one, but the only reason for that is so that I don't have to bend over to get inside. Other than that, the 4' high walls are more than adequate. Once inside you can stand up and walk around with no trouble at all. You really won't believe how roomy they are inside until you step into one.

We worried about the sun reflecting off of it too, but it wasn't a problem at all. I painted a flower garden on the door side of the panel just for kicks and was actually prepared to spray paint the whole thing if it was too shinney and blinding people, but again, not a problem.

My Hexacomb cardboard hexayurt worked great. I went for the 6 foot stretch but made the sides 4foot by 5foot tall. This gave me more headroom. The windows are just some thick plastic taped to the cardboard. The entire setup fits on top of my VW only taking up a 4' x 5' x 14". We used a 1000w generator running the lights, radio, and 2 fans. The fans are used in conjunction with misters to keep the temps down, also the roof panels have exterior gloss white paint to reflect. During the dust storm on Saturday it never moved nor did any dust get in. I got the 4'x7' sheets of Hexacomb cardboard donated to me. Total cost was around $150(tape, rope, rebar, solar lights, pvc pipe, tarp). 8)

There are some good videos in the links above that explain how to tie it down. Basically you create tied-down anchors at the ends of the long pieces of tape that connect the roof using 1" x 6" PVC pipe. Then you run rope from the anchors at the corners of the roof to rebar in the ground.

It's hard to expain in words, but easy when you view how it's done in the videos.

We had a truck to transport our yurt and all our camp stuff. But it stacks nicely into a 4' x 8' x 1' package that we wrapped in the tarp that would become the floor when we got there. The entire thing is light enough for two people to lift. It would travel well on top of a van or car rack I would think.

JK

JKhttp://www.mudskippercafe.comWhen I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.

I have traveled from Denver to Burningman with my elongated hexayurt strapped to the top of my Xterra the last three years. Sometimes wrapped in a tarp and sometimes not and it traveled fine either way.

Secure it tightly and do a test run on the highway before you leave to understand how and where you need to secure to reduce vibration, noise, etc.

Also make sure there are no loose strap ends to flap around because they will dig a hole into your hexayurt. Ouch!

I visited the hexayurt on display on the open Playa, and since then the more I learn about them, the better the idea sounds. I need a new tent - or alternative structure - anyway, and I'm seriously considering a hexayurt for '09. The info posted in this thread has been extremely helpful! Thank you!

It looks like there are no issues caused by the reflections, but is it necessary for it to reflect in order to keep the heat out? My main concern (being an aesthetically oriented artistic sort) is that most of the yurts I've seen are kinda ugly-looking. Especially using it in an environment like BRC, I'd want to paint and/or decorate mine. Would this diminish it's effectiveness?